Longevity Strange Immortal-Chapter 548 - 64: The Spirit Root Worm Undergoes Insectification into an Immortal Artifact, Crossing the Life and Death Tribulation

Chapter 548: Chapter 64: The Spirit Root Worm Undergoes Insectification into an Immortal Artifact, Crossing the Life and Death Tribulation

How fast do Soul Worms reproduce? In just a few breaths, their numbers had multiplied tenfold, with no sign of slowing down.

It was extraordinarily difficult for Divine Sense to lock onto the minuscule Soul Worms.

Li Mo could only see black-gray moss spreading within the Mud Pill Palace, the moss merging together and gradually transforming into human shapes.

If the Soul Worms truly reverted to Mud Sculptures, the Ancient Age Death Disease would be utterly beyond salvation.

Should Li Mo be forced to abandon his physical body, he would have to relinquish one of his Three Dharma Bodies as well, rendering his cultivated system a complete failure.

Clenching his teeth, Li Mo slowly directed the Symbiotic Dharma Body into the Mud Pill Palace.

The Buddha Demon Body remained seated at the center, its neck coiled by the Symbiotic Dharma Body. Together, the Dual Dharma Bodies resisted the parasitism of the Soul Worms.

If he failed to overcome the Death Disease, Li Mo still had the Artifact Pill Body as a fallback plan.

"Failure? Ha! Only success is allowed, failure is not an option."

Li Mo gave a terse response to his Eleventh Senior Sister, though he was fully aware of the urgency of the Ancestor Court’s turmoil, he resolutely prioritized the Ancient Age Death Disease above all else.

The Buddha Demon Body chanted scriptures while the Symbiotic Dharma Body unleashed Sword Qi.

The Mud Pill Palace instantly plunged into the Spiritual Tide of the Dual Dharma Bodies. With the assistance of the Fake Soul Consciousness, reproduction of the Soul Worms was swiftly controlled, and their numbers visibly dwindled.

Some Soul Worms fled into the Xia Dao Palace, morphing into grotesque Outer Heaven Demons.

Li Mo was slightly surprised upon discovering that the Xia Dao Palace’s Taoists could harm the Soul Worms, though the cost of sacrificial efforts by ten thousand lives might not even kill a single worm.

Moments later, the Xia Dao Palace collapsed, and the Dharma Body’s Spiritual Power engulfed the Mud Pill Palace.

On the surface, everything seemed smooth. The remaining Soul Worms scrambled to flee, ultimately reduced to ashes under Spiritual Power’s force.

"Something’s not right."

Li Mo’s expression turned grim.

After the Mud Pill Palace was completely emptied, his Divine Sense swept through repeatedly, failing to detect any trace of the Soul Worms.

Yet, as soon as the Dual Dharma Bodies withdrew their Spiritual Power, the Soul Worms began reproducing again within the Mud Pill Palace.

Despite Li Mo’s Divine Sense rivaling that of the Mahayana Realm, he was powerless to determine the origin of the Soul Worms.

He stubbornly purged them over and over, but even after ten days of continuous strikes from the Dual Dharma Bodies, there were always surviving Soul Worms left behind.

Li Mo massaged his throbbing temple, realizing the inherent trouble of the Soul Worms.

The Soul Worms originated from Elder Yue, something a mere mortal below the Immortal stage was incapable of dealing with.

Li Mo pondered deeply for a long while.

There was one possible strategy: leave the Soul Worms alone. As long as they did not reach a critical quantity, they posed no immediate threat to him.

With his Three Dharma Bodies in tow, he could employ an Externalized Dharma Body to suppress them daily, albeit at the cost of diminished combat strength. Yet, he would still retain his supremacy within the same realm.

"The Eighth Tribulation’s Death Disease erupts at four thousand years of life; as long as I achieve immortal ascension within the next two millennia, the risk of the Soul Worms can be sidestepped."

Li Mo’s gaze flickered. Two thousand years was neither short nor long, but with the Creation Book, ascending to immortality was not entirely beyond hope.

In his mind, a voice emerged, tempting him to abandon his tribulation crossing, claiming that it was impossible to eliminate all the Soul Worms at the Body Integration stage.

Suddenly.

The stars within the Mud Pill Palace collapsed.

Supreme Heavenly Beings autonomously exerted their power, sacrificing thirteen strands of Fake Soul Consciousness to forcibly snap Li Mo out of his state of growing delusions.

Spurt.

Li Mo spat fresh blood, his vomit mingled with countless black maggots. Upon closer inspection, his body was sporadically infested with Soul Worms.

"The Three Souls of Heaven, Earth, and Man are unaffected by the confines of the Mud Pill Palace?!!"

Li Mo summoned the Spirit Root Worms from outside, refraining from concealing himself or deploying the Illusion Array atop the mountain.

Yu Ke’s reaction was predictable, immediately assisting Li Mo in masking his presence, ensuring that none of the factions perceived the existence of Corpse Mountain.

Li Mo directed the Spirit Root Worms to attach themselves to his blood, flesh, and bones, leveraging an Illusion Technique to steer the Soul Worms.

The Soul Worms converged on the Mud Pill Palace, abandoning their parasitism of his flesh and bones—though it was merely a stopgap measure.

Li Mo recognized that the Ancient Age Death Disease was unknowingly interfering with his thoughts; leaving the Soul Worms unchecked would surely lead to his death and Dao’s extinction.

Over time, the Soul Worms would undoubtedly become increasingly troublesome.

For now, the Three Dharma Bodies remained secure.

But Li Mo couldn’t guarantee that the Soul Worms would always fail to parasitize an Externalized Dharma Body.

He calmed himself, reflecting on the countermeasures at hand, knowing that the Three Immortal Body could suppress the Soul Worms yet fail to eradicate them.

The Da Ai Mi Tian was overall limited by the tier of Spiritual Treasure—it seemed that only the Creation Book could reverse this fate.

"The Heavenly Dao Page?"

Li Mo fixed his attention on the Heavenly Dao Page, realizing that its Word-to-law effect could only be applied to the Death Disease, rendering it useless during apocalyptic upheavals.

"Wait, I might not need the Heavenly Dao Page."

Li Mo took a sharp breath, a sudden possibility dawning upon him.

"Spiritual Treasures are insufficient; are even Immortal Artifacts useless against the Ancient Age Death Disease? Why not forcibly complete the Immortal Pattern using Innate Essence?"

"If Immortal Artifacts prove powerless, using the Heavenly Dao Page as a last resort wouldn’t be too late."

"Da Ai Mi Tian? No, the Immortal Pattern is far too intricate. The resources consumed in promoting a Spiritual Treasure to an Immortal Artifact far exceed the ordinary, and Innate Essence is incredibly scarce."

Ultimately, Li Mo opted for the Spirit Root Worms, partly because the Illusory Spirit Pattern was simulated using Illusion Techniques and was currently the closest among the four Spiritual Treasures to becoming an Immortal Artifact.

Moreover, Spirit Root Worms demonstrated remarkable effectiveness against Soul Worms. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Li Mo hesitated no longer, channeling all his Innate Essence into the Spirit Root Worms. The Illusion Spirit Root began rapidly solidifying, and the Xia Dao Palace’s range expanded.

The Taoists within the Xia Dao Palace launched a counteroffensive against the Soul Worms, maintaining a precarious stalemate.

Li Mo’s face lit with joy—the Soul Worms appeared unable to reproduce within the Xia Dao Palace, perhaps due to the lack of nutrients from the Mud Pill Palace.

After devouring the Innate Essence, the Spirit Root Worms still left the Immortal Pattern far from complete.

Li Mo remained composed, immediately consuming a Substitute Dao Page to seize the opportunity tied to No-Life Mother, his consciousness swiftly entering a sealed Spiritual Treasure.

The Futu Ding replaced the Doulu Tripod, serving as a large-scale Buddha Treasure belonging to the Buddhist temple Jialan Temple, typically passed down exclusively within the abbot’s lineage.

The number of monks around the Ding had dwindled, a clear sign that Leiyin Temple had acquired the Futu Ding through less-than-honorable means.

Li Mo kept his gaze fixed on No-Life Mother. As the unspeakable horror neared birth, he siphoned the nutrients forming No-Life Mother’s physical body.

Innate Essence surged dramatically, skyrocketing beyond thirty thousand years within just a few breaths.

Li Mo expended the Innate Essence on the Spirit Root Worms. The Immortal Pattern quickly filled, though thirty thousand years remained insufficient to complete the vast project.

Consumption of the fifth page of the Substitute Dao Page channeled forty thousand years of Innate Essence into the Spirit Branch of Nourishing Yuan Fruit.

With an additional ten thousand years of Innate Essence at his disposal, it was evident that, after successive failed births, the resources leveraged by Leiyin Temple for No-Life Mother had nearly drained their foundation.

"Forgive me, hahaha..."

Innate Essence constantly nourished the Spirit Root Worms.

When the remaining Innate Essence dwindled to just over ten thousand years, the Spirit Root Worms’ Illusory Spirit Pattern finally reached completion, extending the Xia Dao Palace’s coverage across the Mud Pill Palace.

The Xia Dao Palace blurred the line between illusion and reality, its ruins haunted by countless Taoists engaged in a relentless siege against the Soul Worms.

The Soul Worms appeared to sense the threat posed by the Spirit Root Worms, recklessly charging into the illusion realm, intent on overwhelming the Xia Dao Palace with sheer numbers.

As the Xia Dao Palace’s situation steadily worsened, Li Mo poured all his Spiritual Power into the Spirit Root Worms while a vortex churned within the Corpse Mountain Mini World.

The Buddha Demon Body maximized the Demon Leader’s ability to devour Spiritual Energy, harnessing it to trigger the Spirit Root Worms.

The Taoists, their dying cries filled with anguish, wailed: "Heavenly Dao! Heavenly Dao! Why must the world be plunged into endless suffering?!"

"Heavenly Dao!!!"

Boom.

The Spirit Root Worms altered the Xia Dao Palace’s Heavenly Phenomenon, invoking Heavenly Tribulations.

The mass of Taoists perished in the Tribulation, reduced to ash, though a few fortunate ones attained immortal enlightenment directly within the illusion realm.

"Outer Heaven Demons, begone from the Xia Dao Mini World!"

The Immortals struck, the Soul Worms perishing en masse, shattered towns gradually revitalized by the mortals rebuilding them.

The Xia Dao Palace was a creation of illusion; the deceased beings were merely remnants of the Corpse Mountain Tenants.

Failing to gain the upper hand, the Soul Worms enabled the Taoists to snowball, their ascension-directed Tribulations erupting every few days.

Li Mo could barely maneuver the Immortal Artifact, yet upon witnessing potential salvation from the Ancient Age Death Disease, he ignored the possibility of crippling his foundation.

He funneled every trace of Soul Worm within his body into the Mud Pill Palace.

Within the Xia Dao Palace, the Soul Worms visually manifested as Outer Heaven Demons, their annihilation rendering them an easy target.

Crack, crack, crack...

Li Mo’s entire frame emitted sounds of unbearable stress, his flesh dissolving slowly amidst collapse.

All three Dharma Bodies suffered varying degrees of exhaustion; the sole comfort was Zhou Zhu’s sacrifice, buying precious respites for Li Mo.

As Zhou Zhu succumbed to death and Dao’s extinction, only a hundred Soul Worms remained.

Li Mo nearly decided to erect a Longevity Monument in Zhou Zhu’s honor. Without Zhou Zhu’s selflessness, at least one of his Dharma Bodies would have sustained severe damage.

The Soul Worms dwindled further, desperate to evade capture by the Immortals hunting them within the Xia Dao Palace.

Li Mo hardened his resolve.

Crushing two Top-grade Spirit Stones, ten Immortals instantly descended upon the Xia Dao Palace, sealing every route of escape for the Soul Worms.

The Ancient Age Death Disease was finally surmounted, allowing Li Mo to collapse on the ground, gasping in relief.

Within the Corpse Mountain Mini World, grass and wood withered, its Spirit Stone Veins shrank by a quarter, and the once-vanished Deceit Beasts were beginning to proliferate again.

Spiritual Energy promptly revived, granting the Corpse Mountain Mini World a gradual return to its vitality.

Touching his forehead belatedly, Li Mo refrained from recklessly probing the massive spiritual net of energy prior to engaging his Cave God’s Eye.

"The Eighth Tribulation ought to be called... the White Life Period."

Li Mo’s expression turned solemn; the White Life Period Death Disease was predictably horrifying.

Mahayana cultivators or those at the Transcendence Tribulation Stage facing the White Life Period Death Disease were bound to meet nearly certain death; over the next two millennia, he had no alternative but to succeed in forging his immortal destiny.

Li Mo stretched his limbs and returned to the outside world.

Without informing Yu Ke, he allowed the Spirit Root Worms to entwine his body, illusions spilling outward as he deliberately treaded toward the Ancestor Court.

Upon achieving Immortal Artifact status, the Spirit Root Worms radiated ceaseless waves of multicolored, illusory light.

Profound beyond words.

"The Immortal Artifact consumes an absurd amount of Spiritual Power; the Spirit Root Worms themselves require more than the Three Dharma Bodies can supply."

To employ the Spirit Root Worms in battle, the Xia Dao Palace must manifest in the real world—a feat demanding astronomical quantities of Spiritual Power.

"Having an illusion capable of fooling a Land Immortal is already remarkable; the Immortal Artifact likely necessitates genuine Immortal Spiritual Power to unleash its full potential."

While recovering his Spiritual Power, Li Mo scrutinized the jade given by Qu Ai for a considerable length of time.

"Both Senior Sisters are in dire situations, though their lives are not in imminent peril."

Li Mo chuckled bitterly, "Forced to exploit my Senior Sisters, it’s fortunate that Qu Ai and Si Rui Zhai appreciate logical reasoning."

He quietly arrived half a meter from the Ancestor Court, where the surface-layer corpses shifted aside, clearing a direct path.

Slaying Immortals.

What kind of Immortals are to be slaughtered?